Palestinian official suggests Holocaust guilt led FIFA not to sanction Israel

European countries are leading opposition to intervention by FIFA in a dispute between Israel and the Palestinians over soccer clubs in the West Bank, according to Palestinian Football [soccer] Association (PFA) chief Jibril Rajoub.

Rajoub, speaking in a press conference at the Palestinian Football Association in the West Bank town Al-Ram, says the Palestinian soccer players are “scapegoats” for European crimes against the Jews during the Holocaust, for which those countries were now purportedly compensating in refusing to come down on the Jewish state.

The PFA had demanded FIFA sanctions over six teams playing in the Israeli league that are based in Israeli settlements in the West Bank. The international community considers all Israeli settlements in the West Bank illegal.

On Friday, the world body’s ruling council declined to adopt any of three possible actions recommended by an international commission, which had spent more than two years looking at the long-running battle.

— Dov Lieber

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